Footsteps of WWII · Czechia & Austria
Operation Anthropoid Memorial, Prague-Libeň
Memorial · 27 May 1942
The story
On the morning of 27 May 1942 Reinhard Heydrich was driven in an open Mercedes from his country house towards Prague Castle. At a tight hairpin bend in Libeň, where Kirchmayerova třída (now Zenklova) met V Holešovičkách, Jozef Gabčík stepped out with a Sten gun, which jammed. Jan Kubiš threw a modified anti-tank grenade that burst against the rear wheel, wounding Heydrich; Josef Valčík kept watch further up the road. Both attackers escaped. Heydrich died of his wounds on 4 June. He was the most senior Nazi assassinated during the war, and the reprisals that followed killed thousands of Czechs.
What to look for
A tall corten-steel column on a traffic island of the modern interchange, with three bronze figures, two soldiers and one civilian, reaching out from its edges, unveiled on 27 May 2009 at 10:35. A bronze slab in front explains the attack. The original bend has been swallowed by the road layout.
Plan your visit
Open-air memorial, accessible at all times and free. It stands amid busy roads: use the pedestrian crossings. Trams stop nearby on V Holešovičkách.
Things change, so check opening times before you travel.
Nearby sites
- National Memorial to the Heroes of the Heydrich Terror · 6 km
- Lidice Memorial · 20 km
- Terezín Memorial · 49 km
All 160 sites in Footsteps of WWII →
Footsteps of WWII: Europe 1939–1945
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